Dear Friends and Neighbors,
This week our community is mourning and responding to the loss of Daunte Wright, a Black resident in Hennepin County. His death at hands of local law enforcement heaps injustice upon a mountain of grief that no mother, no citizen, no community should ever experience from those sworn to serve and protect them. As neighbors and fellow citizens, we must demand equal justice and public safety for all of our residents, no exceptions. View my full statement below.
Updates you’ll find in this week’s newsletter:
🌳 Climate Action Plan Updates: An updated version of the Climate Action Plan (PDF) is available online and has been submitted to the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners for consideration on Tuesday, April 27 and adoption on Tuesday, May 5. The public is encouraged to share feedback on the latest changes made to the plan by completing the Climate Action Plan feedback form by Thursday, April 22 at noon.
💉 Sign up in Hennepin County’s new vaccine registration system: Register for the vaccine. Once signed up, you will be contacted to make an appointment when you meet eligibility guidelines and we have availability for you.
📞 Free 24/7 Mental Health Resources: Mental health support resources are available to all who need them at Hennepin County Cope or at 612-348-2233 (17 and under) and 612-596-1223 (18+).
💻 Online resource fair: Sexual Assault Awareness Month: Hennepin County’s No Wrong Door welcomes you to attend an online fair on April 19 from 5- 6 p.m. to learn about resources for victims and survivors of sexual assault and commemorate the 20th anniversary of National Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
🚧 Southwest LRT construction to impact traffic: Starting Monday, April 12, westbound Excelsior Boulevard (County Road 3) will close at the Jackson Avenue/Milwaukee Street intersection for approximately 10 weeks.
Please reach out to my office with any questions or concerns using the contact information at the bottom of this newsletter.
In service,
Chris
My Statement on the Killing of Daunte Wright
On Sunday, April 11th Daunte Wright was tragically killed by law enforcement. As our community responds with grief and collective action, we must vigorously uphold our residents’ Constitutionally protected rights to peaceful speech and assembly, free of undo interference or use of excessive force. We must also protect residents from those who would exploit public demonstrations and civil unrest to inflict further harm on our community or interfere with the trial of Derek Chauvin as it reaches its conclusion. This week we have heard from many residents on both of these topics. My office remains in close communication with County Administration and the Hennepin County Sheriff’s department, relaying these resident concerns. I welcome your comments and concerns on these topics. It’s a conversation we all need and are needed for.
🌳 Climate Action Plan Updates
An updated (as of April) version of the Climate Action Plan (PDF) is now available. This version of the plan has been submitted to the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners for consideration and adoption. Learn more about the plan development process at hennepin.us/climateaction.
Public feedback results in meaningful changes in the climate action plan
During the public comment process, we heard in many instances that we are generally on the right track, and the community supports us in taking bold and urgent action. We heard the community wants us to be more bold, more urgent, and more aggressive with our emission reduction strategies.
The following statements are key findings from the public comment process, and the bullets summarize how the plan was changed based on public and commissioner feedback.
Ensure the plan results in meaningful action that meets the urgency of the climate crisis
- Provided more context in the introduction sections to more clearly communicate the urgency of addressing climate change and that humans are responsible for climate change pollution (pages 3 to 7).
- Added stronger language acknowledging that the impacts of the climate crisis are not felt equally, making the response to climate change a justice issue that requires authentically engaging with communities, advancing efforts to dismantle systemic racism, and reducing disparities (throughout plan).
Set bigger goals and define performance metrics, timelines, and responsibilities
- Set a more ambitious overall goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, as well as an interim goal of 45% reduction by 2030 from a 2010 baseline (page 13).
- Provided more context on what is next in implementing the plan to demonstrate our commitment to advancing the work after plan adoption (page 11).
- Included the assumptions behind the planning exercise that illustrates a path to net zero for the county (pages 82 to 91).
Put greater emphasis on reducing greenhouse gas emissions
Defined new stretch goals in several key metrics in the Goal: Reduce greenhouse gas emissions:
- Carbon-free electricity in county operations by 2035 (page 49)
- Regional on-site solar goal of 10% by 2030 (page 49)
- Net zero county fleet by 2050 (page 54)
- Plant 1 million trees by 2030 (page 61)
- Acquire 6,000 additional acres of conservation easements by 2040 (page 61)
Added more background context and strategies in the following focus areas:
Buildings and energy use
- Added background context (pages 45 to 47) and strategies to advance fuel-switching (or building electrification) and getting to carbon-free electricity (pages 48 and 49).
- Added a strategy to advance energy efficiency and energy resilience investments where energy-cost burdens are greatest (page 49)
- Defined the county’s position on the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC) and its role in as a waste management facility, not as a solution to meeting renewable energy goals (page 47).
Transportation
- Added background context (pages 50 and 51) and new strategies to develop a plan by June 2022 to set a more ambitious goal to decrease vehicle miles traveled in support of MnDOT’s goal and develop strategies to achieve it along with participating in MnDOT’s Statewide Multimodal Plan in 2021 (page 52).
- Added a strategy to update the county’s Complete Streets policy to develop a modal hierarchy framework that prioritizes transit, pedestrians, and bicyclists in urban and suburban contexts. (page 52).
- Added a strategy to reduce employee vehicle use for county business purposes.
Waste and material use
- Added background context (pages 56 and 57) and strategies to achieve zero-waste goals faster, including more specifics about organics recycling services, ways to reduce gaps in recycling service at multi-unit housing, and policy advocacy work (pages 58 and 59).
- Further defined the county’s position on the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC) and its role in mitigating climate change (pages 57).
Carbon sequestration
- Added background context on carbon capture technology and expanded strategies to highlight opportunities both on county properties and in partnership with private landowners. (pages 60 and 61).
Elevate the role that natural resources play in addressing climate change
- Renamed the third goal from “Protect building sites, roads, infrastructure and natural resources” to “Increase resilience of the built environment and protect natural resources” to more accurately describe this section.
- Expanded strategies for protecting natural resources, managing water resources, using green infrastructure, planting and maintaining trees, and increasing carbon sequestration (pages 32 to 43).
Ensure capacity to respond to natural disasters
- Added new strategies in the Goal: Enhance public safety to more clearly define the need to support a stronger energy infrastructure and disaster plans that support basic lifesaving resources (page 30).
Define the county’s role, scope, and capacity
- Provided additional background context to help readers understand the county’s role, current authorities, and opportunities to influence others (throughout the plan).
- Included a new section – 2021 and beyond (page 11) – to provide more context on what is next in implementing the plan. This includes:
- Developing work plans with timelines, budgets, and responsibilities for the strategies identified in this plan.
- Convening partners to further develop action plans for strategies, pursue collaborations for greater impact, and raise a collective voice for climate policy.
- Developing a climate analysis framework, which builds on the Race Equity Impact Tool, that can be applied in budgets and planning work. This will be critical to advancing this work with tight budgets.
Increase engagement to build community buy-in and trust
- Established the county’s new role in climate education to help our residents understand the impacts from climate change, help residents, businesses, and organizations take action, and build support for collective action that is necessary to drive systems change (page 26).
- Defined how we will use the county’s Race Equity Impact Tool to guide how we engage with community, particularly those most impacted by a policy, program, or budget decision, and ensure that we consider how the community may benefit or be burdened by those decisions (page 11).
- Further defined the strategy to facilitate community involvement in measuring progress toward meeting the established goals to ensure accountability (page 64).
- Added an appendix to show the alignment of the climate action strategies with the relevant disparity reduction domains (pages 78 to 81).
Providing feedback and timeline toward board adoption
The plan will be considered again in committee meetings on Tuesday, April 27, and brought forward for final adoption in the following board meeting on Tuesday, May 5.
The public is encouraged to share feedback on the latest changes made to the plan by completing the Climate Action Plan feedback form by Thursday, April 22 at noon. The feedback will be summarized and shared with commissioners prior to the committee meetings on Tuesday, April 27.
To help develop your feedback, review the Climate Action Update published on Friday, April 9 that outlines the latest changes made to the plan.
You can also provide feedback on the plan with me using the contact information at the bottom of this newsletter or by participating in Open Forum ahead of the board meetings on Tuesday, April 27 and Tuesday, May 4. Learn more about the public participation process at board meetings.
💉 Sign up in Hennepin County’s new vaccine registration system
Hennepin County is offering the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to people who register and meet current eligibility guidelines. Vaccine clinics are by appointment only. No walk-ins accepted.
Upcoming vaccine clinics:
- Tuesdays, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. through June 29: Earle Brown Heritage Center
- Wednesdays, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. through June 30: Earle Brown Heritage Center
- Thursdays, 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. through June 24: Earle Brown Heritage Center
- Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. through June 26: Robbinsdale Middle School
You do not need to be a Hennepin County resident to register.
Once signed up, you will be contacted to make an appointment when you meet eligibility guidelines and we have availability for you.
Registering for Hennepin County’s vaccine program does not make you ineligible to sign up for other vaccine tools, including Minnesota’s Vaccine Connector.
Learn more about Hennepin County’s role in vaccination administration, including the number of vaccine doses we’ve administered: hennepin.us/vaccinationupdates
Sign up to receive this data weekly, via email or text.
📞 Free 24/7 Mental Health Resources
If you’re in a mental health crisis or know someone who is, we can help. The Cope mobile crisis teams can come to where you are. The teams respond to anyone in the county who needs an urgent response.
Free, 24/7 mental health support resources are available to all who need them:
- Call 612-348-2233 (17 and under)
- Call 612-596-1223 (18+)
- hennepin.us/cope
State-wide resources
- Text “MN” to 741741
- Call **CRISIS (**274747)
If the situation is life-threatening or you need immediate response call 911. Learn more, here.
💻 Online resource fair: Sexual Assault Awareness Month
Hennepin County’s No Wrong Door welcomes you to attend an online fair to learn about resources for victims and survivors of sexual assault and commemorate the 20th anniversary of National Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
- April 19, 5- 6 p.m.
- Join via Webex
- Or watch live @CityofRichfield YouTube
Hosted in partnership with: City of Richfield, Joint Community Police Partnership and Richfield Police Department. Other partners include Hennepin County Domestic Abuse Service Center, Hennepin Assault Response Team, The Annex Teen Clinic, and more.
News
Hennepin County receives additional $240M for COVID-19 expenses
By David Chanen, Star Tribune
This year’s federal funding will serve many of the same programs started in 2020, such as housing for the homeless, small-business grants, rental and housing assistance and closing the digital divide with technology training and other distance-learning initiatives for low-income residents.
Access the full story, here.
🚧Southwest LRT construction to impact traffic
Westbound Excelsior Boulevard to close
Starting Monday, April 12, westbound Excelsior Boulevard (County Road 3) will close at the Jackson Avenue/Milwaukee Street intersection for approximately 10 weeks.
The closure is needed for Southwest LRT crews to work on the bridge over Excelsior Boulevard.
Detour and access
During the closure, the detour for people driving westbound will use:
- Blake Road (County Road 20)
- Highway 7
- Highway 169
Eastbound Excelsior Boulevard will remain open to traffic.
People walking, biking and rolling will continue to use the existing detour:
- Blake Road
- 2nd Street
- Cedar Lake Trail
For more information
To learn more about the Southwest LRT project, visit swlrt.org.
If you have urgent Southwest LRT construction issues such as blocked access to business or residential areas, improper traffic sign placement or parking issues, call the 24-hour hotline at 612-373-3933.
If you have general, non-urgent questions, contact Nkongo Cigolo, Southwest LRT community outreach coordinator for Hopkins, at nkongo.cigolo@metrotransit.org or 612-373-3825.
About District 6
The Hennepin County Board of Commissioners consists of one commissioner from each of seven districts. I am proud to represent Deephaven, north Eden Prairie, Edina, Excelsior, Greenwood, Hopkins, Long Lake, Minnetonka, Minnetonka Beach, northern Mound, Orono, Shorewood, Spring Park, Tonka Bay, Wayzata and Woodland.
County information
- Elected officials
- Hennepin County libraries
- Hennepin County Medical Center
- Hennepin volunteers
- Online services
- Phone directory
- Service Center information
- Southwest light rail
- Understanding your property tax
Chris LaTondresse
Commissioner
6th District
612-348-7886
Jessica Oaxaca
District Director
612-348-6885
Kyle Olson
Policy Director
612-348-3168